May
04
By BETH J. HARPAZ, Associated Press
NEW YORK — Allison Guarino understands the controversy over new rules allowing 15-year-olds to buy the morning-after pill without a prescription. But as someone who teaches pregnancy prevention to ninth-graders in Boston, she thinks lowering the age will “help the girls who need the help the most.”
“Some girls might not have a good relationship with their parents,” she said, “or they had unprotected sex and they don’t know what to do.”
On the other side of the issue are folks like Brenda Velasco Ross, who says the new rules infringe on her rights as a parent.
“It breaks my heart and saddens me and really angers me,” said Ross, stepmom of four, including …
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May
03
By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press
NEW YORK — Writer, actor, dancer. Activist, teacher, composer. In the melange of Maya Angelou’s 85 years is also daughter, of two women who deserved one with a good memory.
So Angelou writes in her latest literary memoir, “Mom & Me & Mom,” a sweet ode to “Lady,” her mother Vivian Baxter, and “Momma,” her paternal grandmother Annie Henderson, who took her in at age 3 in tiny, segregated Stamps, Ark., and returned her at age 13, when the time was right.
Baxter, rough-and-tumble poor from St. Louis, and Henderson, refined believer in southern etiquette, are both long gone but figure big in Angelou’s legendary life.
The fierce and fun Vivian was Angelou’s abandoner and, …
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May
02
By ALISON LADMAN, Associated Press
Mom always said to eat your vegetables, so this Mother’s Day serve her breakfast in bed inspired by a walk through the garden.
We began with the idea of egg-in-a-hat — sometimes called egg-in-a-basket or a Popeye — in which an egg is cracked into a hole cut in the center of a slice of bread. The whole thing is pan-fried, usually just until the white is set and the yolk remains liquid. The idea is that as you eat it, the yolk breaks and soaks the toast with a warm, creamy sauce.
Instead of toast, we used the same idea with a bed of vegetables. We sauteed a vegetable hash, then nestled eggs into …
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May
01
By ALISON LADMAN, Associated Press
It doesn’t matter how skilled — or not — your kids are in the kitchen. This easy, fruity mousse parfait is a great Mother’s Day project they can help with.
To keep it simple, we use vanilla Greek yogurt as the base for our mousse, and fold whipped cream into it for a light, airy texture. Then we layer the mixture with lightly sweetened fruit for a pretty and tasty contrast. We opted for peaches and blueberries, but any berry or diced fruit would work fine. Strawberries and bananas or raspberries and orange segments would be great combinations.
Not feeling fruity? Try a sprinkling of chopped toasted pecans and a touch of prepared caramel sauce …
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Apr
30
By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press
NEW YORK — These moms curse a lot, drink to excess, reveal scary truths and draw twisted little stick figures of their kids pooping and whining relentlessly. And this Mother’s Day, they’re bringing their derelict parenting to you.
The authors behind a fresh round of parenting books love their munchkins, to be sure, but there’s something about the scorched earth narrative that sells memoirish parenting books these days.
Is the goal an instructional one? Inspirational? How about some advice?
“No, there isn’t any. I don’t have anything. No advice. Nobody has any advice,” laughed Amber Dusick, a Los Angeles mother of two who brings us “Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures.”
The book’s 50 “crappy laws …
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Apr
29
By The Associated Press
A line of plush dolls that could pose a choking hazard to children is among this week’s recalled consumer products. A line of defective lamps and potentially dangerous children’s clothing are also being recalled.
Here’s a more detailed look:
PLUSH DOLLS
DETAILS: Plush handmade baby dolls made by Radiant Exports and imported by The Land of Nod. The dolls are dressed in a one piece printed floral fabric outfit with a white lace trimmed hood over the head of the dolls. They include Clara dolls in Yellow with the SKU number 404543 and item number 3710080-YE; Eleanor dolls in light blue with SKU number 404551 and item number 3710080-LB; Hannah dolls in Cream with SKU number …
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Apr
28
By The Associated Press
Prom planning can get overwhelming. These free smartphone apps can help you budget, shop and experiment with hairstyles.
PLAN’IT PROM
Set a budget, read money saving tips and scroll through a prom countdown checklist in this app by Visa Inc.
Available at the Apple App Store and Google Play store
PROMGIRL
Search for prom dresses by price, color or body type in this app buy online retailer PromGirl.com. Dresses can be bought with a few taps on the app.
Available at the Apple App Store
TUX
Browse tuxedo styles and create your own look in this app from wholesaler Jim’s Formal Wear, whose tuxedos are found in stores around the country.
Available at the Apple App …
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Apr
27
By JOSEPH PISANI, AP Business Writer
The prom is making a big comeback.
The recession forced parents and teens to cut back on spending for the annual high school dance, but wallets are finally opening again.
“Dresses are more elaborate,” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group. “They are now buying two pairs of shoes, one to go to prom and one to dance in.”
“This crop of kids cares about prom,” says Cohen.
And so do the parents, who see the dance as a rite of passage. The pressure to help give teenagers a memorable night is high. “You don’t want your kid to be the only kid who doesn’t have what the other …
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Apr
26
By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel
It was probably my fault that he did it. Because I happened to mention that he sounded so young on the message made two years earlier.
He sounded young and sweet and surprisingly polite, and sometimes I was happy he didn’t pick up right away, because then I could listen to my little boy who’d morphed away.
I mentioned this to another Mom of a teenage boy and she said she’d had the same experience. She confessed she wished she’d saved her son’s message before he, too, made a new one, in his new, older voice.
Parenting is full of things you want to hang onto but then realize you cannot keep in your grasp. …
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Apr
25
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has a strategy to discourage his daughters from rebelling, perhaps by getting a tattoo himself.
Obama says he and his wife, Michelle, have told 14-year-old Malia and 11-year-old Sasha that if they ever decide to get a tattoo then “mommy and me” will get the same tattoo in the same place on their bodies and show it off on YouTube as a “family tattoo.”
Obama commented in an interview taped last week and broadcast Wednesday on NBC’s “Today.”
The president also dismissed the first lady’s recent reference to herself as a single mom during a separate television interview.
Obama suggested the comment was a slip of the tongue. But he also acknowledged there have been …
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